Exposition
by Warm Regards
Summary: The origins of a supposedly ruthless monarch and the beginnings of her sister's quest to find the Snow Queen. One-shot for Disney's Frozen.


Author's Note:

Before I begin, I need to get some legalities out of the way.

I do not work for Disney.

I never worked for Disney.

I am not affiliated with anyone who is related to Disney.

This is a non-profit work.

_Frozen_ is owned (and still being worked on) by Disney.

I think it's important to make this A/N. Why?

Well, consider this: I wrote this fanfic without the aid of any trailers, teaser trailers, or even images of some of the characters. Most of my inspiration came from (leaked) images, discussion forums, and just my energy level. Therefore, I guess one can consider this story as a predictive fic for the beginning of film, hence the title. Though I doubt I got the characterizations, the pacing, or even the plot right.

Or maybe by some bizarre coincidence, everything I wrote happens in the film, and this fic becomes a spoiler.

So reader beware: unless you're up to date on _Frozen_ spoilers, or do not mind getting semi-spoiled, I kindly suggest not reading this until after you have seen the film. That way, you can tell me how bad a psychic I would make.

Thank you and enjoy.

* * *

Once upon a time, there rested a kingdom adjacent to broad mountains called Arendelle. The kingdom had two lovely princesses named Anna and Elsa. Sisters could not have been any more different in personality. Anna held a jubilant, outgoing attitude. She constantly flashed her teeth and hugged people she barely knew. Her warmth extended to her phenotypes; she had a warm skin tone with lovely strawberry blonde locks. Though not as talkative as her sister, Elsa displayed a more mature demeanor that one would expect with a monarch. Platinum blonde hair intermixed with Elsa's cooler skin tone to reflect her reserved personality. Despite the discrepancy, Anna and Elsa were the best of friends and confided in each other during the best and worst of times.

Arendelle had an aged prophecy that dictated: _A ruler with a frozen heart shall lead the kingdom into a perpetual winter._ The young princesses were quite amiable and caring, so no one suspected the prophecy could ever apply to them.

However, Elsa from youth held a secret: she had mystical snow powers.

Elsa had discovered her magic one day while playing a game of chase with Anna. The young princesses were running along the castle grounds, much to the annoyance of the castle servants. Anna easily outran her nimble sister. The latter, trying to keep up, tripped on her footing. She extended her arms to soften the imminent contact with the ground.

First, there were spirals of bright magic that collected onto Elsa's palms. Then in an instant, shards of ice and wisps of snow shot from the hands of the young princess with little effort. Elsa scrambled to her feet to examine a choppy ice sculpture covered in snow and imprinted with snowflakes. She was thankful that Anna had wandered off away from the scene.

"Elsie?" a young Anna called from the distance. Elsa went rigid.

Anna sprinted towards her sister, her two braids bouncing along each step. "Why are you taking so-" Anna paused to look at the ice sculpture, her eyes full of bewilderment "Oooh, where did this come from?"

"I- I don't know...," Elsa said, unable to steady her gaze.

Anna squinted as she stepped closer to the ice. "I like the snowflake pattern!" She turned to her sister and smiled. "It's very pretty!" Anna gave a small pout. "Are we still playing?"

"Y-yes...," Elsa said.

"Good!" Anna said. "'Cause you're still it!" Anna tapped Elsa's shoulder before running off once again.

Elsa made no movement to follow. Instead, she looked down at her hands, wondering how she had made the sculpture.

In private, Elsa learned more of her powers. She started freezing little things, such as a left slipper or a hairbrush, in the darkest hours of night so as to not alarm anyone. Every time she would raise her hands, bright white magic accumulated onto her hands. With enough projection, Elsa was able to direct the magic to where ever she choose. The objects Elsa would freeze were always marked with snowflakes that could have very well been crystalline.

On several occasions, Elsa was even able to give life to snowmen she constructed, though none survived past a few hours due to the kingdom's warmer climate.

Elsa knew the Arendelle prophecy verbatim, and feared it related to her. Ashamed of her ability, Elsa grew to repress her icy magic. When happy and content, Elsa could easily control her powers. When saddened or agitated, however, she had less command. As a result, Elsa was often in solitude to let her emotions pass. Anna, who knew Elsa was not as outgoing as herself, never thought the better of it. As the sisters grew older, Elsa never told another soul of her powers, not even her sister.

oOoOoOoOoOo

One fine day many years later, a coronation was to be held, as Arendelle law stated. From the royal family, a new monarch would be chosen by the kingdom. It was soon decided that Elsa would be the next queen, for the villagers very much liked her. Even Anna could not have concealed her joy.

"Oh, Elsie!" Anna said, gently smoothing the wrinkles from Elsa's blue dress. "You will make a wonderful queen for our people!" And indeed, Anna truly felt that her sister would make a good queen. Elsa was so spectacular and formal in everything she did, as opposed to her plain old sister. Not to mention Elsa had a certain finesse Anna felt she herself lacked. The kingdom would be well served with Elsa as their monarch.

"Thank you..." Elsa softly said. In truth, she was quite nervous for the events that were unfolding. Why she was being crowned as opposed to Anna was something that puzzled her deeply. Anna was the optimistic, sociable sister who was always smiling on even the gloomiest of days. Anna would be the better queen of the sisters, Elsa thought. Especially considering that _she_ didn't have freakish snow powers.

Anna frowned as she detected unease in her sister's posture. "What's wrong, Elsa?"

Elsa flinched as she closed her eyes. "Anna, do you think this whole coronation is a good idea?" Elsa turned to face her sister. "I mean, what if I mess up on my recital, or break the crown, or..."

"Don't be scared," Anna said with a smile. "You'll do great!" She tightly hugged Elsa, much to the discomfort of the latter.

"Princess Anna?" A royal adviser stepped behind the honey haired princess. "We'll be starting soon. You should take your seat."

Anna nodded before returning her smile to Elsa. "I'll see you inside," Anna said softly. And with that, the bubbly sister swished her rouge dress and pranced into the grand ball room where the coronation was to be held. She quickly made her way to front stall where she sat next to a good friend of the sisters, a gentleman named Hans. He was attired in a sophisticated fashion, as usual.

Anna beamed at her friend. "Oh, Hans!" Anna said. "I'm so excited! Elsa is finally going to be queen! Can you believe it?"

Hans gave an amused smile. "You seem happy, considering you're not the one being crowned."

"Oh, but Elsa is! She deserves it." Anna sighed. "She's a little scared though. I hope she's alright."

Outside the grand ball room, said princess was consoling herself. "Don't be scared," Elsa softly repeated what Anna had said. Maybe her sister was right, Elsa thought. Nothing wrong was going to happen today. She was going to get an even bigger crown to wear, have "Princess" swapped with "Queen", and that was all.

"May we formally present our very own," the royal announcer from inside the ballroom said, "Princess Elsa of Arendelle!"

With a sharp inhale, Elsa adjusted her blue dress and slowly entered the room. Soft music began to play, prompting Elsa to walk down the carpeted isle. The sheer skirt on her dress softly draped across the floor.

Elsa noticed many things upon entering. Looking to her left, and then to her right, she saw chandeliers with flickering candle light hanging above the wooden pews. She saw the intricate roses that draped on the pillars and the edge of the floor. She saw several clergy members, one holding the Law of Arendelle, another holding the crown fit for a queen. And she saw the massive crowd in attendance, all staring at her in happiness and excitement for the impending new monarch.

Elsa nervously smiled in return. She found it hard to keep her poise when not only her people were staring, but her own sister was frantically waving from the front of the room.

Hans tastefully controlled Anna's peppiness by holding her shoulders. "Calm down, Anna." He laughed as he shook his head. "You see your sister everyday."

Anna quickly turned to Hans. "Look how pretty she looks!" She returned her view to her sister. "Yay, Elsa!"

Elsa chuckled to herself. Anna was usually energetic for two; not even a coronation could change that fact.

Elsa was getting closer to the front throne. The crown was being held in preparation to be placed on her head. There were a few steps to the royal seat, however.

Gulping, Elsa raised her dress and slowly climbed the stairs. One, two, three, she counted to herself. With a sigh of relief, she stepped onto the top step and sat elegantly into the chair. She looked up to see her sister, Hans, and several dozen denizens looking at her. She shyly tilted her head to the side.

By this point, one of the clergy members had begun to read the Law of Arendelle. Elsa had heard it several times before during practice runs. This time, however, the words did not make a sound; all Elsa could hear was the beat of her heart. It was happening all too quickly, she felt. Something bad was surely to...

"...May I proudly coronate thee, Princess Elsa, Queen of Arendelle."

Elsa's train of thought abruptly broke when she felt weight on her head. Raising her hand to fix her hair, she instead felt the cool metal of the crown. Quickly retracting her fingers, she looked at the crowd once again. The audience was beaming at her, Anna perhaps more so.

Sensing that her fears were not going to come to fruition, Elsa finally gave a relaxed grin of her own. The man next to her motioned her to give the protocol speech. She swiftly nodded as she elegantly stood and took a dainty step forward.

Unfortunately, Elsa forgot to raise the skirt of her dress as she stepped forward. Her feet got stuck in the taut fabric, causing her to lose her balance. As she extended her arms to break her fall, a quick flash of white illuminated the room. She tumbled down the steps while the audience gasped and screeched in unison.

Elsa raised her head and slowly opened her eyes. The crown had rolled off from her head and was resting a few feet away. Looking further up, she saw her one of her subjects frozen in ice. His face was a frozen expression of fear and panic. The ice encasement had snowflake markings that were far more serene than the situation called for.

Elsa glanced at her fingers, fearful of what she had unveiled to the crowds.

From the front stalls, Anna glanced at Hans, his shocked expression mirroring her own. She quickly stood, looking concerned at her sister. "Elsa?"

"What did you do?!" one woman bellowed. She angrily marched out of her pew and stared at Elsa.

Elsa pushed herself into a sitting position. "I... I'm sorry..."

"Change him back!" another yelled.

"I can't," Elsa said through a choked cough. "I don't know how..."

"You're a witch!" A third pointed at Elsa with her index finger. "And you're going to be our queen?"

"Stop it!" Elsa said, trying to hold back tears but failing. She straightened her arms to stop the crowd that was circling her. Once again, the flash of white appeared. This time, however, the impact was clearly seen, and several more people became entrapped in ice. Elsa was now shaking uncontrollably, her hands that had cast the icy spell covering her wet eyes.

Anna trotted past the crowd and knelt by her sister. She placed her hands on Elsa's quivering shoulders. "Please stop yelling at my sister," Anna said to the patrons. She then tilted her head towards the platinum blonde princess. "Elsa, are you alright?"

Elsa abruptly stood and ran out of the door, much to the shock of her worried sister.

"Elsa!" Anna rose and started chasing her sister.

The sisters ran past several guards, doors, and paintings within the castle. They soon were running outside on the concrete grounds and along the bridge that connected the castle to the village. Further crowds were present at the gates, shocked to see what they hoped to be queen running away from her sister. The princesses then ran past the many cabins and shops of the village. Elsa began to race towards the mountains, and Anna followed.

"Elsa!" Anna shouted once more. This time, her sister stopped running, turned about, and raised her shaky hands up towards Anna. The icy magic was seeping out despite Elsa's pained attempt to retain it.

Elsa panted for air. "I am not going to make that prophecy come true."

The honey haired princess took a moment to process her sister's words. "Elsa, it's not going to come true. You're a good person." Anna slowly stepped towards her sister.

"No!" Elsa bellowed. Her distraught state made her control of her powers dwindle. Her fingers were twitching as more and more magic poured out.

"Please don't...," Anna said, her hands folding in faith.

Elsa closed her eyes, desperate not to cry. "Leave me alone, Anna."

Anna bit her lip. "I'm not leaving you!"

Elsa's magic suddenly streamed from her hands and flew directly towards the sky. Anna fell backwards in shock as she saw the lights reaching the clouds above Arendelle. The bright white quickly dispersed, causing the white clouds to thicken and darken in color. A heavy blanket of sleet started to drop over the castle and the village. Anna looked up in silent awe as snowflakes began to fall onto her eyelashes. Elsa briefly watched the snow fall before quickly dropping her hands and fleeing deeper into the mountains.

For several minutes, Anna sat on the ground, unsure of what to do. Wet slush began to collect on her dress and onto the ground around her.

"Anna!" a voice called from behind. The princess did not move at the sound of her name.

"Anna?" The person moved in front of Anna. It was Hans. "What happened?" He solemnly looked at the princess.

"She's gone," Anna slowly said. "Elsa's gone."

Hans followed Anna's gaze into the mountains. "Here." He extended his hand. "Lets go back. You will catch a cold out here." Anna grabbed his arm and wobbly rose. The walk back to the castle was one of awkward silence. The villagers by the gates only stared as their princess and her friend walked past them.

"What happened?" one of the villagers whispered as she saw a morose-stricken Anna pass by.

"Princess Elsa froze some innocent people," a second villager said.

"Really!" another said through hushed tones. "And to think she was to be queen."

The chatter of the villagers became softer as Anna and Hans entered the castle. The strawberry blonde princess dejectedly parted from her friend. She tiredly made her way to her chambers, where she somberly slept through the night.

The next morning, Anna groggily awoke to find a white streak of hair woven in with her normal strawberry blonde locks. Under normal circumstances, Anna would have been curious and sought out an answer for this discovery.

At that very moment, however, all Anna felt the need to do was cry in her room and berate herself for being a terrible sister.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Many days went by. The villagers who had been frozen thawed out relatively quickly, though many developed fevers and colds. The storm that started the day Elsa left never ceased. The snow kept piling up and covering the homes of the villagers, much to their chagrins. The lush greenery had long since been hidden beneath the cold powder. The nearby river froze solid, thereby unable to supply fish for the villagers as it once had. In their disdain, the villagers began referring to Elsa as, "the evil Snow Queen."

Anna cringed at the nickname.

Nonetheless, she continued to perform her royal duties, albeit with much less enthusiasm. She tried to repress her guilt for the loss of her sister. How could she have not seen Elsa's inner torment? Poor Elsa was now paying the price for _her_ stupidity.

Day and night, Anna waited for Elsa in the hopes that she would return. The days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. There was no return from Elsa to speak of.

To seek counseling, Anna constantly vented her emotions to Hans. The latter always obliged as any gentleman would, though he never seemed to relieve much of Anna's grief. Hans became used to hearing Anna talk about Elsa's good side. Resultantly, their conversations typically ended with Hans telling Anna to keep hope. Despite the repetitious nature of their conversations, he never declined speaking with Anna, as he knew that no one else would willingly listen about the social pariah with magic ice powers.

"Elsa is not bad," Anna said to Hans over tea one day. "She has a good heart. I know it."

Hans sipped his cup. "She is your sister." His response was no longer intimate as much as it was automatic. "I would be shocked if you didn't feel that way."

"Just because she has ice powers," Anna said, "doesn't mean she has a cold heart."

"Very true."

"The kingdom just jumped to conclusion. There have been blizzards in the past."

"Many of them."

Anna inhaled. "I'm going to bring her home."

"Yes, that - what?" Hans suddenly looked up. She had never said _that_ before.

"I know she's out there somewhere," Anna said. "I just need to find her."

Hans stammered. "You're a princess. You cannot just 'find her' out in the wilderness."

Anna stood from her seat. "Well, quite frankly," Anna said with sharp eyes, "I don't want to be a princess if my sister isn't here with me."

To this, Hans had no response. She was being absolutely ridiculous, he thought. Was she expecting Elsa to come up to her and willingly be whisked home? But then, Anna had determination like no other. Who was Hans to rudely deter her? Well, her closest male friend, but that was besides the point.

"Well, I suppose when you put it like that...," Hans said.

Anna weakly smiled. "So, does that mean you'll help me find her?"

"No." Hans sipped some more of his tea.

"What?" Anna widened her eyes. "Why not?"

Hans cleared his throat as he rose from his seat. "Anna." He reached for her hand. "You know Elsa better than any other person I know, myself included. You definitely should go and bring her home." Hans released his grip. "I can't go because I intend to watch over the kingdom while you're gone." He softly smiled. "After all, you're the princess. If you go, then your people will not have any ruler. In a time such as this, that is simply not advisable."

Anna stared at his face before giggling, feeling slightly guilty for being doubtful of his character. "Oh, you're right!" She leaned in to hug him tightly, the first hug she had given in many weeks. "Thanks for being such a good friend, Hans."

Hans inwardly smiled. "Do not speak of it." He watched Anna rush up the stairs to get to her wing. Her demeanor was much happier, he noted.

Once alone, Hans plopped back into his chair. Anna was a girl who puzzled him deeply. Yes, Elsa's untimely departure had changed many people and many things. Hans himself was affected in ways that no one could even fathom. Anna loved her sister very much, and was nearly destroyed by Elsa's absence. Understandably Anna would want to retrieve Elsa.

But why, Hans thought, was Anna so content with finding her sister, when bringing Elsa home would mean forever being _just_ a princess? In fact, how could Anna have been so happy that Elsa was to be queen many weeks prior? It was not simply acceptance of what the kingdom wanted. Anna had opportune time to become sovereign in place of Elsa, but never took advantage of it. Hans personally insisted upon it, while Anna kept refusing. Hans himself couldn't tolerate that sentiment. The annoyance of being so close yet so far was a feeling he tried to avoid, and yet constantly faced ever since the failed coronation...

Hans took another sip of tea to calm his mind. He was thinking too much again. That's what usually happened when Anna or Elsa were concerned. If Anna was happy, then so would he.

Anna had made her way into her room. She promptly changed out her lavish palace dress to a simple frock. Said frock had a long sleeved, light blue camisole covered with a black bodice. The bodice was trimmed with gold and had flower embroidery on the front; the blue skirt was similarly edged with embroidered flowers. She then retrieved her red woolen cloak suitable for traveling in the cold.

She raced out of her room and down the palace stairs. Anna took one last glance at the splendor she was leaving behind. She sighed as she hastily opened the castle doors and began to walk along the bridge. She walked past the castle gates into the village. She noticed that many of villagers had stopped their mundane activities to witness their only princess go outside the kingdom boundaries. What an unusual sight, many of them probably thought.

Anna soon made it to the edge of Arendelle. She gazed at the scenery; mountains galore and hundreds of pines stood before her. In addition, the never ending winter storm had sprinkled every possible surface with snow, making the view nearly entirely white.

Seeing such vastness made Anna slightly skittish. In all honesty, she had not a clue where to look for her sister; she didn't even know if Elsa was still in the mountains.

Oh well, Anna thought. A search needed to start somewhere. Maybe the tallest mountain would be a good starting point. After all, she knew Elsa preferred solitude. What better place to get it than the pinnacle of a mountain?

Anna inhaled deeply as she entered the mountains and began her search for the Snow Queen. Her feet sank into the snow with every step she took. The wind blew in all directions so as to pelt her with the snow upon the ground, which made her shiver. Worst, she could not see far enough to locate which mountain was the tallest. For several minutes, the princess walked no direction in particular, unsure of the cardinal direction she needed to go.

Anna began analyzing her surroundings. Along the broad mountainside, the pines lined up to create a wall of trees. Under one of them, there was an animal resting.

Full of curiosity, Anna walked closer. The snow made deciphering the creature hard to do. Anna was, however, able to see series of ropes attached to its body that led to a sled carrying parcels.

Anna crept in closer. From this smaller distance, Anna was able to see the animal was a reindeer. She smiled when she realized that it was definitely asleep, evident by it's deep breaths. Anna continued to lean closer.

The animal suddenly woke up. Anna fell backwards into the snow. The animal raised its head and looked at the spooked princess.

"Uh, hello..." Anna meekly waved her hand. Anna noticed the reindeer was missing an antler. "Don't be afraid," she said. "I... I'm not going to hurt you."

The reindeer slowly stood up and began to walk towards Anna. She did not make any attempts to run away. She was quite fascinated by his – she had a hunch that this reindeer was male – mannerisms. He slowly placed his muzzle into her gloved hands. A small sniff led to a lick, and the lick led to a nibble.

Anna giggled. "You silly reindeer." She pushed away the reindeer's head from her body. "You can't eat my gloves." She began to stroke his muzzle. The reindeer sat down, enjoying the feeling of her touches. "You are such a silly reindeer, yes you are-"

"What are you doing?"

Anna and the reindeer simultaneously froze and turned their heads around. Anna saw a blonde man giving her a puzzled yet annoyed expression.

Anna rose from the ground. "Uh, hello to you too?"

The man folded his arms. "Who are you?"

"Oh!" Anna briefly stared at the reindeer before looking back up. "Where are my manners? My name is Anna." She smiled at the man. "And you are...?"

He gave an unsure expression. "Uh... I'm Kristoff?"

Anna snatched his hand and vigorously shook it. "A pleasure to meet you, Kristoff!"

"O-kay..." Kristoff said, scratching his head and glancing at the reindeer.

Anna followed his gaze, still brightly grinning. She pointed to the one-antlered creature. The reindeer licked her finger. "Is this your reindeer?"

"Yeah," Kristoff said. "His name is Sven."

"Sven?" Anna slowly said. She looked down at the reindeer and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Sven!" She then went down to further examine the animal's muzzle. Sven all the while was lazily looking at her in an almost puppy-like manner. She turned toward the blonde once more. "You know, I've never seen a reindeer in person. He's pretty cute." Anna began to pet his fur, which Sven gratefully accepted."But why is he missing an antler?"

"He's a clumsy reindeer," Kristoff said, slightly grinning at his pet. Sven rose to his feet as he snorted in anger. Kristoff cleared his throat as he looked back at Anna. "Is there a reason why you're traveling in these mountains? And being weird around my reindeer?"

"Uh...," Anna stood, shaking the snow off her dress. "Technically, yes. I'm looking for..." Anna paused. "My sister."

Kristoff gave her a bemused look. "Your sister, huh?" Kristoff rubbed his chin. "Your sister lives in the mountains? By herself?"

"Yes, well..." Anna nervously smiled. "She... ran away."

"Did she?" Kristoff said. "Do tell."

Anna tugged on her braids. "Well, she is... unique... and other people don't quite understand her."

"And you do?" Kristoff asked.

"No, not exactly," Anna said, her eyes becoming downcast. "She never told me about it." Oh, but how she wished Elsa had told her.

"Told you what?" Kristoff asked. "What made her 'unique'?"

"Yes." Anna pulled on her braids once again. "See, she can freeze things with her magic ice powers."

"Pardon?" Kristoff said. Was this girl making stuff up just so he would laugh? He was having a hard enough time keeping quiet to listen to her talk.

Anna bit her lower lip. "See, where I come from, Arendelle, it's not normal for one to have ice powers."

Kristoff shook his head. "Lady, it's not normal _anywhere_."

"No, you don't understand." Anna leaned forward towards the mountain man. "See, there was going to be this coronation, and she was going to be crowned queen. Everyone wanted her to be queen. _I_ wanted her to be queen." Anna deeply inhaled. "But then, when she was about to give her speech, she tripped and fell. She raised her hands-" Anna raised her gloved hands, "so she wouldn't fall on her face." Anna dropped her arms. "But she accidentally froze someone. Everyone started yelling at her, she got scared, and more people were frozen."

Anna paused. "There this prophecy, you see, that says a ruler with a cold heart will bring an eternal winter to Arendelle. I guess she thought it was her."

Anna looked at her feet. "Arendelle hasn't been the same since she ran off. It's very cold. I mean, it was cold sometimes before, but now there are these snow storms that are so strong, and it is always snowing. Nothing green can grow anymore. The river is frozen and no one can fish or drink from it. The villagers are mad and everyone is blaming my sister for it."

Anna closed her eyes. "They call her the Snow Queen. They say she cursed Arendelle with her evil snow powers."

Anna looked back up at Kristoff. "But she has a good heart. I know she does. She'd never, _ever,_ purposely bring coldness to our people." Anna returned her downward gaze. "That's why I need to find her: so I can bring her home where she belongs." _And so I can apologize for being such an awful sister,_ Anna mentally added.

Kristoff started intently at the strawberry blonde haired girl. She had said something so passionately and so personal. Good for her, he thought. But the first thing he had to do was verify her story.

"Wait." Kristoff raised a palm. "Did you say your sister was going to be crowned queen?"

"Yes."

"...What does that make you?"

Anna chuckled. "Princess of Arendelle, I guess?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Kristoff rubbed his temple. "Let me get this straight. You're a princess." Anna nodded. "Your sister was going to be queen." Anna nodded again. "And there's some ancient poetry-"

"Prophecy," Anna corrected.

"Whatever," Kristoff said. "That says cold hearts are evil. Your sister, for some inexplicable reason, has magic ice powers. And once everyone found out, they shunned her because they thought she was evil." Kristoff puffed a breath. "So now you're the only one who can bring her back to break the curse on your kingdom, because everyone else is too afraid to help." He complacently grinned at Anna. "That about right?"

"You catch on fast," Anna said. "So, will you please help me find her?"

"Sorry, Princess," Kristoff said. "Busy." He began to pull his sled with a rope, his one-antlered reindeer following his lead.

"I understand," Anna said, following him. "In that case, do you know where I can find the tallest mountain?"

"Of course I _know_," Kristoff said. "I'm an expert on mountains. But why bother? Maybe your sister is better off living somewhere where her powers are useful."

Anna slightly giggled. "She is probably better off with her own sister back home."

"Maybe you're right." Kristoff patted the princess's shoulder. "Best of luck to you!" He continued to pull the sled, walking away from a bamboozled Anna.

Anna knew one thing was certain: he was nowhere near as sophisticated, nor as polite, as Hans. Anna, however, wasn't willing to let his ego get the better of her. She decided she would get him to help one way or another.

The princess began to pace behind the mountain man.

"Why are you following me?" Kristoff snapped.

Anna twirled her braids. "Hmm?"

"Listen, Princess," Kristoff said. "Forget it."

"Forget what?"

"No, you're not dragging me into this," Kristoff said. "This is your problem, not mine."

"Oh, I know," Anna said, her teeth flashing in her smile. "A princess never begs."

The silence that followed affected Anna and Kristoff differently. Anna gazed her surroundings, genuinely impressed by the majesty of the outdoors. Every pine, every rock, _everything_ had a dusting of snow. It was very pretty to see. Kristoff, on the other hand, could not stand to be near her giddiness. He tried to ignore the girl by intensifying his sled pulling to go farther way. Sven, who was also pulling, did not bother to change his own pace, thereby slowing the process as opposed to speeding it.

"Seriously, stop following me," Kristoff said without looking behind.

Anna giggled. "Oh, I'm not following you," she said. "I just happen to be walking this particular way. After all, I don't know which mountain is the tallest or the shortest." Anna, wide eyed, looked at the jutted rocks in the distance. "I just know they all look very pretty."

"Uuuggh...," Kristoff said, violently rubbing his face. If he could pull through her insistence, he would celebrate by drinking a whole keg of ale. Just because she was a princess didn't mean he was required to help her. Even if she was being rather pleasant. Sven gave an amused expression at his human companion's mental suffering.

"Arendelle has lot of snow." Anna stooped down to the ground and lifted a bundle of the white powder. "But none as pretty as this!" She threw the snow over her head and raised her hands in exclamation.

Kristoff couldn't take it anymore. Somehow, ignoring her made him feel a twinge of guilt. What was up with that, he questioned himself. Still, he had no choice; he was about to turn into a softy. In front of his reindeer, no less.

Kristoff halted. "Princess?"

"You know," she said, "you can call me Anna." She slowly passed the blonde haired man.

"If I help you out this one time," he said, "will you swear that you'll never bother me again?"

Anna turned around and gleefully nodded. "Of course!" She extended her arms so as to give a hug.

"No." Kristoff stepped to the side and pointed to the reindeer. "If you want a hug, get it from Sven." Much to his surprise and slight amusement, Anna did exactly that, tightly embracing the one-antlered reindeer. Sven panted in contentment.

"Okay," Anna said after relinquishing her grip. "Where to, Kristoff?"

"Huh?"

"You said you knew these mountains." Anna tilted her head. "So, how do we get to the tallest one?"

Kristoff drew a blank face.

"You don't know, do you?"

"Of course I do!" Kristoff stomped along in the snow and lifted the sled's ropes. "Just shut up and follow me." He began dragging his sled.

Anna smiled. "Oh, okay."

oOoOoOoOoOo

As it turned out, Anna was correct in her assumption. Several hours passed with little progress to speak of. Kristoff repeatedly stopped to analyze their surroundings. He personally knew his route through the mountains by heart. However, he never deviated away from this path until today. He regretted being swindled into this situation by a girl.

He looked over his shoulder to see a content Anna gaze the wilderness. He wondered if she knew or even cared of his inner battle for masculinity.

Anna the whole time kept her deal by not speaking neither to Kristoff or Sven, though she urged to do so. Then she suddenly paused.

"Kristoff?" Anna slowly said.

The mountain man groaned. "What is it now?"

Anna pointed to a snow slope. "What is that?" On the pinnacle, Anna and Kristoff saw a white blob of snow. Except this blob was sentient, and quite loudly complaining about something.

"Heck if I know," Kristoff said. "Follow me," he said to Anna, pulling his sled and Sven along. The duo and the reindeer made their way to hide behind pine trees to further witness this mysterious being.

"Seriously, some animals are nothing but rude!" the snow blob said. Apparently, a flying finch was trying to steal the creature's carrot nose. The latter became instantly annoyed as it tried to scare off the bird.

"Maybe he knows where my sister is." Anna walked out from her hiding place.

Kristoff tightly clutched her cloak. "What are you, crazy?"

Anna rolled her eyes as she shoved off his hands. "Come on, Kristoff. What's the worst that can happen?" Anna continued to walk up the slope where the snow creature stood. She noticed that he – she could easily decipher the snow creature's gender from his voice – was especially agitated. Appearance wise, he was very much a snowman with a buck snow tooth, a carrot nose, and coal buttons on his front.

Anna smoothed her dress as she reached the top of the slope. She quickly learned that the snowman was rather short; he barely reached her thighs. The finch that was pestering him flew away. "Um... excuse me," Anna said with softness.

"What?" the snowman said. He was having a bad enough day, and he didn't want a potentially dangerous stranger in the mix. He tried to give a menacing look by squinting his eyes, though it came off as forced and almost silly.

"Hello," she said. "My name is Anna. I was looking for my sister with my friend, Kristoff-"

"Why would you say my name?" Kristoff shouted from the pine trees down hill. Sven amusingly looked at his human.

Anna shook her head before looking back to the snowman. "Anyway, we are kind of lost, so we were wondering if you may help-"

Kristoff rapidly made his way up the slope. "We are not lost," he said to Anna. To the snowman, he then said, "Sorry for bothering you, whats-your-name." Kristoff began to push Anna away from the creature, to little avail.

The snowman grumpily folded his arms. "It's Olaf."

Anna stepped away from Kristoff's pushes. "Olaf?" She happily extended her gloved hand. "Nice to meet you!"

Olaf confusingly looked at the girl's hand. "What?"

"It's a hand shake," Anna said. "Here, let me show you." Anna took one of Olaf's twiggy arms and firmly shook it.

Olaf analyzed his palm after Anna released it. "Your hands are warm."

Anna grinned. "Aww, thank you!"

Kristoff puffed a breath. "Yeah, what a shock. A girl's hands are warmer than a snowman's hands."

Olaf raised an eyebrow. To Anna, he said, "Your friend here seems moody." Anna nodded in agreement while Kristoff humorously pouted.

"So, Olaf," Anna said. "We're trying to find my sister."

Kristoff smugly folded his arms. "Evidently, her sister's a snow queen."

"What?" Olaf frantically waved his hands. "No, no, you two stay away from me!" He fearfully began to flee, though his shoddy structure began to roll apart before he took two steps. Sighing in frustration, he instead started to stroll down the hill.

Anna persistently followed, which was rather simple considering both his pace and his height. "She's not bad person."

Kristoff in turn was tagging behind. "She just froze several people and made an eternal winter for her kingdom."

"It was an accident," Anna said.

"So much so, that she ran away," Kristoff said.

It was now Anna's turn to pout. "You're mean." She looked back at the pine trees and noticed the one-antlered reindeer was chewing something from the sled. "Kristoff, what's Sven eating?" She pointed to where the sled rested.

Kristoff followed her gesture before groaning. "Sven, stop it!" He then raced back to his sled.

Anna turned around to talk to Olaf before realizing that he had walked further away. Anna skidded downhill to catch up to the snowman. Hastily moving in front of him, she said, "Olaf, do you know her, my sister?"

Olaf scoffed. "_Know_ her? She made me!"

Anna clenched her fingers. "She... _made_ you?" Anna had not known of Elsa's ice magic until the coronation. The fact that Elsa kept her ability of giving snowmen life a secret as well was astonishing to Anna.

"You bet she did!" Olaf nodded. "She made lots of me's! Well, not _me_ me, but snow things like me." Olaf vertically raised his arm. "Except they are much bigger than me." Olaf exhaled as he rubbed his stubby head. "But then she told me to get lost, because I wasn't being useful for her castle."

"What castle?"

"Her ice castle," Olaf said. "It's big, and tall, and has sharp icicles that can break your skin." Olaf cupped his mouth with his hand as he teetered closer to Anna. "Trust me on that."

Anna rubbed her gloved hands. "Does it have snowflake markings all over?" She recalled how Elsa's ice magic left very peculiar imprints.

Olaf pointed a twig finger. "Yeah, that too."

Anna started to say something but faltered. "Olaf, do you know where her castle is?" She gave a small smile of hope.

"Maybe." Olaf looked to the ground. "But I don't want to go back there." He looked back up, his arms folded. "She's mean to me."

Anna frowned as she looked to the side.

Olaf didn't admit it, but on top of being afraid of Elsa, he was also saddened in her presence. When he had last seen her, she was all alone and looked incredibly contemplative. What she had been thinking of, Olaf didn't know. But he knew that he didn't like the somberness he often felt around the Snow Queen.

Soon in the scene came Kristoff and Sven, both pulling the sled with slightly gnawed parcels. "What did I miss?" said Kristoff. The mountain man leered at Sven.

"Besides," Olaf said. "Your pals here are much more useful than... than pathetic me." He plucked off his crooked carrot nose. In response, Anna gasped, Kristoff stifled a laugh, and Sven hungrily stared at the vegetable. "I mean, look at me! I'm a wreck!" Olaf placed his nose back onto his face. "You're better of without me." Olaf sadly turned around and began to walk.

Anna knelt to the ground, the snow crunching under her knees. "Olaf, you _are_ useful."

"Oh, yeah?" Olaf said, not bothering to look directly at her.

Anna smiled. "You know first hand of her powers. You were made from her magic, after all!"

"If he was made from her magic," Kristoff said, "wouldn't that make her his mother?" As if this journey wasn't embarrassingly weird enough, Kristoff thought.

Anna softly giggled. "Well, what ever she is or isn't to you," she said to Olaf, "she is still my sister." Anna straightened herself off the floor. "We grew up together and were the best of friends. I know she's a good person. I don't think she's bad, just misunderstood."

"That's what they all say," Kristoff said to Sven. The latter crooked his head in confusion.

"So, what do you say?" Anna said. "Want to help out?"

"Do you... really want me?" Olaf asked as he fumbled with his hands.

Anna nodded. "You bet we do!" She turned to the blonde. "Right, Kristoff?"

Kristoff shrugged. "Meh."

For a few moments, Olaf stood in silence. This Kristoff guy was rude. And that reindeer of his seemed hungry. Hopefully it hated carrots. But Anna herself was a nice girl. And if she felt the Snow Queen had some goodness in her, why not give it a shot? Heck, maybe Anna could change her sister for the better, Olaf mentally noted.

The snowman suddenly turned around and beamed with his mouth agape. "I won't let you down!" The snowman proudly gave a salute. His snow head rolled to the ground, prompting him to sheepishly replace it back onto his body.

Anna smiled before gesturing him to lead the way. Olaf went past her and began to diligently march forward, or as best he could being a minuscule snowman.

"Are we really being led by a snowman?" Kristoff asked Sven as they began to pull the sled. The reindeer snorted in amusement while Anna swatted Kristoff's arm and laughed.

So off went the sweet princess, the rugged mountain man, the one-antlered reindeer, and the talking snowman. Off to repent, off to forgive, and off to end the reign of the mystical Snow Queen.

FIN


End file.
